Belikin Beer Belize Scoop: A New Brew Coming, One Retired and A Chance to Win a Signed 2014 Calendar!

At the risk of sounding like a total cornball, I had one amazing amazing day yesterday. Belikin, THE beer of Belize, invited me to a luncheon to meet the ladies of the very popular 2014 Calendar and to see that calendar unveiled to them for the very first time. Cool on its own but get this…

It all took place at Belikin’s brewery in Ladyville, in the beautiful brewery taproom and finished with a tour of the facilities.

And then an evening party at the Princess Casino and Hotel in Belize City with DJs, the ladies all glammed up and signing the calendars, a good sized group of US soldiers and much of the Who’s Who of Belize City. Let me just put it this way. I wore a dress for the second time in my 7 years in Belize.

Here’s our 2014 cover girl Zarifa with Joanna of San Pedro and Island Films at the brewery. Check out Joanna and her husband Ben’s great video about the Making of the Belikin Calendar. You’ll get giddy too. And (even if you are female) you’ll be pretty jealous of that gig.

I have a bunch to tell you about. But for this morning, I start with some excellent scoop I gathered during my day. And a bit of a contest… well more of a raffle… for what I think is one cool prize.

First. Belikin is releasing a VERY limited edition beer next Spring. Much of it is still a secret but here is what I can tell you. As most of you know, Sir Barry Bowen, a 7th generation Belizean, passed away WAY too soon a few years ago in a plane accident here in Belize.

WHAT I HAD WRITTEN: His father founded Bowen & Bowen (the beer maker and beer, soda and water distributor of Belize) but Barry is credited with growing the company into what it is today.

The real story:

“Sir Barry created Belikin. He had gone to his father to ask about starting a brewery and his dad didn’t want to. Sir Barry went to a brewery in Honduras and met with the owner, Bertie Hogg, who taught him about brewing beer and helped him start the brewery in Belize.

They had a “Name the Beer” contest and two people entered the name “Belikin” which is Mayan for road to the coast or road to the east. Or at least that’s how the story goes…”.

Love it! Thank you Lady Dixie Bowen (Sir Barry’s wife) for the update! And now I am even more intrigued by Belikin’s history…

Belikin is by far the most well known brand in Belize both locally and internationally. (If you haven’t been to Belize, let’s call it the Budweiser of Belize x 100.)

Barry was a great guy and very much missed in San Pedro and Belize. I found this picture of me and Barry from 2010. I’m busy drinking rather than smiling…

WELL… Barry and his wife Dixie’s youngest daughter Courtney is getting married in May of 2014. And for her wedding, her older brother Michael is creating a special edition celebratory beer from a rare special hops – her dad’s favorite.

It will be released in Belize on a very small scale in the spring. Pretty awesome… I’m hoping for a pink cap. You’ll want to hoard this stuff. And speaking of hoarding…

Second. The Verano Beer, a citrusy wheat beer that was released in the summer of 2012 and 2013, has gone out of production. There were some “kinks” in the flavor during the 2012 and it was not wholeheartedly received.

It was refined and re-released for the summer of 2013 but once you have a bad rap? Well… it’s hard to beat. Though there is general agreement that it tastes great now, they are retiring the beer to make way for new projects in the future.

So… get your Verano beer, orange caps and merchandise while you can. Collectors items I say.

Lastly! I queued and queued last night to get signatures on a brand new 2014 Calendar for you! I am giving away (and shipping to where ever you are) one fully signed Belikin calender.

It is not just beautiful Belizean girls but locations from around the country. (All pics were taken this year by the cute & quirky Belizean photographer, Leonardo Melendez. He did a fantastic job.)

All you need to do is comment below (in my comment section) why you’d like one (let’s keep it clean!) and you need to be a fan of SanPedroScoop.com on Facebook. A double whammy.

On October 31st, I’ll randomly pick someone and… you will have one very Merry Christmas. AMENDMENT! Changed to Monday, November 4th due to the fact that I don’t have time today!

Look! Miss September sends you kisses!

What a fun day… I met amazing people and can’t thank Belikin enough. Stay tuned for many many more pictures and probably a bit more gushing. Can you blame me?

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Rebecca, I want the calendar so when Michelle and I move there I have something to hang up in the garage !!!

Adrian Chavez

How do we enter to WIN?

Belize Blog

Did you read my post? I’m not making it that easy for you!

Jennifer Bellerjeau

Would love to win the Calender as the women are always so pretty!!!

charlotte

I would love this calendar to give to my bro for his new man-cave. This would be the piece de resistance as our heritage is Belizean.

Belize Blog

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! Thanks Charlotte!

Belize Blog

Hi Charlotte…YOU WON! Please send me a message so I can ship it to you when I get back to SP!

Dave

My friends are coming next year and don’t know anything about Belize , the idea is to show them the calendar and go to the places featured ….. and keep an out for the calendar girls ..may be lightening will strike twice.

Judy

We are planning our second trip to Ambergris Cay next July and I cannot wait! Every day I check out the Scoop and it makes the waiting better. This would be a great gift for hubby, who is also anxious to get back to Belize. It will also make our horrible upstate NY winter a little easier to bear!

Erik Terdal

I want the calendar for myself, but hey, that won’t win. So here is my entry and promise: if I win, I’ll do an online auction and donate 110% of the sales price to Wildtracks.

Belize Blog

Killing me! I’m gonna do a random pic!!! My other one I’m donating to SAGA. Shucks…I wish I got more.

If I won the calendar, I would give it to my son, in Calgary. Might just be the push he needs to get his butt back to Belize.

Belize Blog

Sweet! Thanks Gail.

Ron

I would treasure the calendar to celebrate and memorialize my first 12 months of marriage to the fairest of them all! (wedding date is this November 30 on Ambergris Caye). Perhaps my Shivaun would consider twelve bridesmaids?

Belize Blog

Hmmmm…she might! Thanks!

Bill Grogan

I would love to win the calendar so we can hang it on the wall as an extra incentive to pick up extra shifts so we can save enough money to visit again. Andrea and I visited in November 2011 and just missed the special edition brew that was out at that time. We are both firefighter/paramedics and we were amazed at how nice the people of Belize were to us and how easily we could spend a whole morning talking to an elderly lady about her cats and life in San Ignacio after having breakfast at Pops’s one morning. Can’t wait to get back!

mystery boy

I deserve the calendar as I believe you to be the most beautiful of the beautiful. The worlds best blogger of all things Belize, a world class burgeoning photographer. A genuine gem. A petition has been circulated to feature SPS as next years’s sole calendar girl, Said petition, initiated by yours truly and Coconut Leo, is said to be the a landslide favorite of the Belikin marketing team.

Belize Blog

Now you speak my language…

Constance Bailey

Very sweet article, very lighthearted and I appreciated it. Do you know about the other beer here before? Crown? My neighbor went so far as to cement in the bottles of it along a seawall in Consejo. Do you know of its demise? This should be written history. Its not, so I document. Blessings your way.

Belize Blog

I’ve heard some of the story…I think. I would love to hear the whole story!

Sabrina Polzl

I’d love to give this calendar to my husband for Christmas. He’s a huge fan of belikin, specifically Belikin Premium. This would be a great gift as it would remind him of his love for Belize between our trips down.

lifeagain

awwwww! i don’t have a Facebook account…..i enjoyed the photos that you did share though…..

Don

Belize Blog

Time to sign up for Facebook!

lifeagain

Hey! i have an idea…..can you have one calender that is signed and stick with your original plan….and then buy a bunch of calenders…..oh lets say 200 hundred or so to be sold and mailed to your scoop audience at a increased price to cover your time & cost. Maybe you can email the electronic prints of the calendar to Scoop USA location and have them printed and then mailed from a secret location only known to you, a friend, family member or someone that still owes you a huge favor. That way we can all have a piece of Belize and it keeps us focused on a vacation or relocation goals. And your everything Belize mail order business gets off the ground.

Just thinking out loud.

Don

Belize Blog

EVERYTHING BELIZE mail order business! Slow down there! I am thinking about shipping the calendars…in fact, this contest will be a bit of “test run”. The thing is…they are on really heavy paper and quite large. I’ll see how it goes and get back to you. And ha! That friend would have to owe me one HUGE favor!

Steven Wilt

OOOOOoooooo…pick me! I am an annual visitor to Belize and an avid Scoop-ologist!

Hey Rebecca, love your scoop! I mentioned your comments on the Belikin calendar to my sweetie and she said ” yeah…looking forward to trying the beer ” . What can I tell you? I was thinking calendar and she was thinking beer! Looking forward to both on our fist trip to Belize and San Pedro in a month. And if I was the lucky chosen one, I could save you the postage! 😎

Belize Blog

VERY tempting…

Beth Hunter Marshall

My husband and I and a few friends met Ms. Dixie when we were in Belize a few years ago. We were walking the beach back from Crazy Canuks and she was on the deck at her house and we ended up talking to her and having a couple of drinks with her. She is awesome (like the majority of the people in Belize) and it is a night we won’t forget. Would love to win the calendar to remember ALL the great times we’ve had in Belize.

18°North

I’m down to my last two Belikin beers in my fridge in Houston. Time to take another trip down and it would be great to have this calendar on my fridge to remind me of what I am missing.

Donna Flores

Sounds like an amazing day! My husband Enrique Flores and I Donna Flores for the past 20 years have had a restaurant bar and for 13 of those years, the Last Resort in Copper Bank Village, Corozal District. We have received a Belikin Beer calendar every year since the first Calendar, have always bragged about the quality and beauty of the Calendars and have always been proud of them. Would love to receive a signed one! Although we are still in the restaurant business we are not on the path of the Belikin truck, so gone are those little extras, like calendars. Thank you, fingers crossed, Donna Flores, Sueno Del Mar, Donnas Place, Copper Bank

Javier Romero

Would like a copy because the calendar is a piece of art. Leo did an awesome job.

NVJims

I would like a copy to remind me of the beauty of Belize. They seem to be great photos, almost as good as yours. You should think about putting out a calendar with your great photos! You have improved over the years and are now limited by your equipment.

Lulu Stuart

I would like a copy for my ARMY Soldier…

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About Me

My name’s Rebecca and over eight years ago (!) I moved from Manhattan, NYC (where I worked as a bond trader at Lehman Brothers) to San Pedro, Belize. Holy crap, what a change. I spent a full year deciding if Belize was right for me, over 3 years managing a sometimes gritty bar & restaurant and now over 3 years travelling, living and writing this blog. As you can imagine, I’ve seen the good, awesome, bad and the ugly (though not often). I’ve got lots to say and so here’s my website and my daily blog.

I originally set out to show you all sides of life on the island of Ambergris Caye and now it’s time to expand to the amazing country of Belize. So much to see in one tiny country.

For more information on how and why I moved here, an estimate of how much it costs to live in San Pedro and advice about packing and planning, check out my post series about my expat life.

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As always, feel free to contact me with any and all questions you have. Feedback (positive is always preferred but not absolutely mandatory) is also welcome. It’s VERY helpful to me if you try to answer your own question by searching my site. Also, I can NOT find you a job. Honestly…I can’t. I would if I could.

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